"Sheer Persistence and Hard work can take you miles."- Says Ketan Jain, CAT Topper.

Ketan Jain appeared in CAT 2015 and secured 90 percentile. He joined in IIM Rohtak, after getting admission offers from many top b-schools. “Sheer Persistence and Hard work can take you miles,” is what he suggests to all the aspirants of Preparing for CAT 2017. Read AboutHow to Prepare for CAT 2017

CAT is one of the prominent management exams conducted by IIMs on rotational basis every year. For 2017, there are less than 3 months left for the preparation, therefore, candidates try to guzzle every piece of information with equal amount of nervousness and tension. For those who are appearing for CAT this year, Collegedunia has sought out tips and strategies for CAT from previous year toppers.

Here is the conversation we had with Ketan regarding his preparation strategy.

Ques. Name the institutes that offered you admissions? Where did you take the admission?

Ans. I secured 90 percentile so as I was expecting, I got admission offers from SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, TAPMI, IIM Srimaur, IIM Rohtak and IIM Lucknow. After a lot of brainstorming, I decided to go for IIM Rohtak.

Ques. Are there any other exams you took apart from CAT?

Ans. Yes, I appeared for MAT and XAT other than CAT to eliminate any discrepancies had I failed to secure good percentile.

Ques. How did you prepare for the exam? Did you take any coaching?

Ans. I took admission to MBAGuru in Delhi. Other than that, I was regular at self-studies. I was adamant enough to find myself a good coaching institute since I was aware of the fact that CAT is a difficult nut to crack.

Ques. Would you like to review your coaching institute?

Ans. Of course, MBAGuru has been the most important factor in my successful attainment of good percentile. I would recommend CAT 2017 aspirants to consider MBAGuru a good option. Why am I insisting so much? All I can tell you is that it has the best faculty and guidance.

Personally, I have been quite a goofy student, but the teachers have been patient enough with me and understood my problem areas. I was made to undergo SWOT analysis, it helped them judge where I needed the maximum amount of effort and accordingly, I was trained. I hope it does reflect in my overall CAT Percentile.

Ques. How did you manage CAT Preparation schedule along with graduation studies?

Ans. Preparing for CAT requires an immense amount of preparation. We need to get our fundas right and stick to the basics. Getting up in the morning and solving mathematics was my strategy. Although I had to overlook my graduation studies a bit, however, I did not completely neglect them. I made a conscious decision to join in MBAGuru in spite of tightly packed schedule.

Ques. What were your strengths and in which areas did you lack among all the sections in CAT?

Ans. I was particularly weak in Quantitative Ability section. I had to struggle with questions on numbers, the amount of speed and accuracy required took a lot of time to be acquired. As far as my strengths are concerned, I was good at Logical Reasoning and Verbal and Reasoning Comprehension. I used to practice for it daily in the morning.

Ques. What did you do to prepare for Quantitative Aptitude section?

Ans. Since I struggled a lot with this section, I made sure not to panic at any point. My mentors at MBAGuru advised me to concentrate on Arithematic, Algebra and Trigonometry. The only strong recommendation they had for me was to stick to the basics. The material provided by the institute added to better results. Regular practice helped me go through Quantitative Aptitude section comfortably.

Ques. List the Name of Books You Followed for Quantitative Aptitude.

Ans. I did not go for too many books, I relied on RS Agarwal (Quantitative) and the coaching material provided by MBAGuru mentors.

Ans. This was an easy fold for me. I kept the strategy quite simple and concentrated on solving and interpreting pie charts, bar graphs. It is required to solve the logical questions with a clear thought and precision, there is no scope for assumptions. Ace this section with practice and solve previous year question papers.

Ques. What study material did you take up for this section?

Ans. For Data Interpretation section, I relied on the study material provided by my coaching Institute. Apart from that, I took my online test papers and previous year question papers as well.

Ques. Discuss your strategy for the Verbal Ability section.

Ans. Verbal Ability section was easy for me. To be honest, I just dedicated half an hour in the morning each day to it. I used to pick 5 new words each day and revise them on weekends. Also, I used to solve the comprehensions in the morning time.

Ques. List the Name of Books You Followed for Vocabulary and Grammar

Ans. GRE Barron 12th edition, WREN and MARTIN, Coaching Material

Ques. What mock papers did you take?

Ans. I basically joined the test series provided by MBAGuru itself. Test series help you prepare in the right direction with the right amount of efforts. I solved previous year question papers, sample papers and looked up to online resources such as Sucess CDS and Career Launcher.

Ques. What should be the strategy for someone who is starting just two months before the exam?

Ans. Students tend to panic and stress a lot about CAT Preparation sometimes, I would firstly recommend them to stay calm and plan out their schedule for the next 2 months. If you follow a proper schedule, this time period may prove out to be enough for preparation. Just be regular with your studies and do not distract yourself at any cost. Join a good coaching institute which provides crash course. Learn tricks and tips to solve questions easily in lesser time duration.

Ques. How would you rate the following preparation strategy in terms of their efficiency in your story?

Coaching Classes

NCERT Text Books

Online Study Material

Coaching Printed Study Material

Mock & Sample Test Papers

Study Groups

Self-Study

Subject Wise Classes

High

Moderate

High

High

High

Low

Very High

Moderate

Ques. What is your five point rule to excel CAT 2017?

Ans. There is no five point rule as such, but one requires a huge amount of focus, immense hard work, should know how to eliminate the options along with the knowledge of shortcuts required to solve issues. Most importantly, keep formulae on fingertips.

Ques. What will be your prescription for students in the last phase of their preparation for CAT 2017?

Ans. Just focus on your basics. You have prepared hard throughout the year, now it’s time to consolidate. Don't hush while attempting any question. Relax and read the question 2-3 times before marking the right option.

Ques. How was the interview? Share some of the questions.

Ans. Okay, see the interview process was very detailed. They asked random questions. The interview panel consisted of various professors and experts. Some of the questions they asked were- Why MBA? What is the current world scenario in terms of politics and economy of the world?

To check my personal traits, they asked about the last book I read and What all I liked about it. An interesting question popped up regarding what my friends think about me and How I percieved them. The interview was detailed and interesting.